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Virginia Tech: Don?t Politicize the Massacre

By Katherine H.S. Moon

The massacre at Virginia Tech is eliciting a profusion of confusing and off-the-mark public reactions on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Americans seem not to know where to lay the blame, and Koreans in South Korea seem all too eager to bear collective responsibility and shame for the outrageous acts of a total stranger. Labeling and classifying may be ways for people to make sense of irrational things, but playing with identity politics and cultural differences in not the way to clarify a chaotic situation.

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Leaders, celebrities and journalists call on governments to deliver life-saving Arms Trade Treaty

NEW YORK — Three leading female advocates of the campaign to control the international arms trade – Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren; and former Irish President, Mary Robinson – together with 20 prominent journalists, today called on governments to deliver a tough Arms Trade Treaty rooted in international human rights and humanitarian law to stop arms transfers that fuel global violence and conflict.

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In Philippines, Mother Buries 4th and Last Son Killed by Davao Death Squad

Taken. Clarita Alia is hysterical as her son, Fernando, is laid to rest in Davao City today. Fernando was the fourth and last son of Alia who was killed in the last five years. “I no longer have anybody with me. They took all my children,” Alia wailed during the burial. She believes that the so-called Davao Death Squad was behind the murders of her sons, as well as countless other people, many of them minors who had trouble with the law. The extrajudicial killings, which Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has tacitly approved, are seen as the city’s way of dealing with crime. Government and tourism officials have praised the city for its low crime rate, which is ironically attributed to these killings. Duterte has likewise earned kudos for his toughness on crime and for his statements warning people that they would be killed if they commit crimes in his city. (davaotoday.com photos by Barry Ohaylan)

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Army Bombs Panabo Villages, Residents Outraged


Outraged. Manay residents Josephine Rebante (right) and Antonia Ayko (second from right) rail against the military’s bombings. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)

In an effort to save face after Communist guerrillas raided the Davao Prison and Penal Farm, the military dropped more than a dozen bombs on villages in Panabo. When the smoke cleared, only a chicken and a tukmo were found dead. But the residents were furious at the army?s ?grossly wrong and irresponsible? action that put their lives in danger.

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